MacGregorSailors.com

Mast sway was a huge problem when i used to use the bowline knot technique to secure the baby stays to the mast.

That all ended when I used small shackles to secure the baby stays directly to the mast. Use the smallest ones that fit your baby stays. They should be so small that u need to screw them into position to get them on and there should not be any slack when the mast is uptight. I can now raise or lower the mast in all wind conditions and raising the mast with a 150 Genoa on the furler easily. A very experienced and retired employee at Dawsar marine told me this. He told me he designed a few of the Dawsar items and clearly knew what he was talking about and gave me the exact shackle size.

Hi all.
I have seen this subject brought up several time in the past. There is no need to fight the mast, or try to find the magic length of baby stays, because of the geometry there is none.
Do not shackle the baby stays to the mast. Pass the line from the MRP though the the baby stay shackles then fasten it to the mast bale.
As you start to winch, the MRP line will tension the baby stays and automatically center the mast. The baby stays and MRP line form a triangle that adjusts the tension as you raise the mast.
Those of you who are modifying an existing system may have to shorten the baby stays a few inches, or move the bale up the mast a few inches to create the tension. I did not because I was replacing the mast and starting from scratch.
The line passing through the baby stay shackles will tend to wear, but I don"t think it will be a real problem for a long time. Keep an eye on it. If it bothers you put a pulley in there.
Hope this helps, it work great for me.
Bob.

I simply attached the furler to the mast with a bungee and as the mast goes up I yank on the furler so it stays close to the mast. I'm not saying it is perfect but I can single handle it this way between 30mph gusts.
Q1 p

By attach the mast to the furler I meant circle the mast and the furler with a reasonably sized bungee just under the hook on the mast to which the mast raiser is attached.

Also the bottom of the furler is cover by a car wash Mit so as to not scratch the boat as it slips along.

Jimmyt wrote:Are those lines bracing your MRS pole? Just want to make sure I don't miss your point.

Bracing the MRS pole came up awhile back when NiceAft had a mast raising system failure (one day out of fourteen...). I believe Highlander uses baby stays both to brace the MRS pole and to steady the mast.

I took a picture maybe that will help understand. I guide the mast with the rope and the cam locks are to hold the mast if I have to adjust anything.
I can not get the photos to rotate

Got it. The pics make it clear. I would not have come up with it without the pics though. I wonder if anyone else has seen one rigged this way. Thanks for taking the time to show it to me.

ecossebob seems to be having success doing it exactly the way the manual indicates the system was designed. Also others have mentioned doing it this way and using a foot to apply pressure on a baby stay to center the mast during raising, successfully. But it seems like many of us are having issues doing it this way, me included. I am suspecting that some of us either have non standard geometry for our baby stays and bail or else are rigging the Mrs pole wrong according to the manual. If anyone is raising the mast using the method in the manual and not having any problems with lateral sway, please take a video sometime and post it for the rest of us to better understand why it's not working for us.
Or if a video is already posted on mrs operation please post a link here.
For those of you using the method in the manual, does it work as well raising the mast with boat in the water as on the trailer?

Québec 1 wrote:I simply attached the furler to the mast with a bungee and as the mast goes up I yank on the furler so it stays close to the mast. I'm not saying it is perfect but I can single handle it this way between 30mph gusts.
Q1 p

Pretty much much what I do only I use two bungies






J

I clip the furler bale to the MRS static line too. It works real well because it holds the furler up high out of the way while I raise and lower the mast. It's the furler that drags the mast sideways.

I raise my mast with the furler on. I use my MRS pole then attach my inner forestay. This allows my to work on any fouled lines and attach my furler.

Boat has got it right. I will adopt his method. If it's simple and requires no mods I tend to adopt quickly. Thanks Boat.

I have the 2004 26M model which I purchased in 2012. At the time of purchase, I downloaded what must have been the latest Mac manual where it described using a bowline knot to attach the baby stays to the mast bail. This technique did not work well for me at all and I even bent the stainless steel mast base plated during a crosswind once and needed to get a new one. Raising and lowering the mast was a nightmare and I needed a second person to keep it straight and I could not understand why.

What I noticed today was that the M manual on this forum under the Resource Tab is dated 2003. It shows using the screw pin shackle technique the wise old man at Dawsar Marine told me to use as the baby stays are cut to the perfect length for it. The 2003 manual also shows pictures of bent strapping attached to the mast bail but the 2004 model does not have. I just connect the baby stays directly to the bail and raising the mast in a cross wind is no problem now and stress free.

When the mast is in the up position, the baby stays are tight and I have to fasten the top pin shackle in place only after I connect the bottom clips (carabiner type) to the life line posts. The manual for the 2003 M shows chain plates attached to the lifeline posts so I guess that would work better if your baby stays are not cut to the exact size like mine are.

Perhaps the moderator can add the later version of the Mac manuals to the Resource tab which describe the bowline technique without the chain plates. This appears to be another design change between the earlier and later versions of the 26M.

Happy Mast Raising everybody!

Okay guys, this is really important.

Above is the picture from the manual that came with 'boat' - a 2013 26M

You see the long length of the bowline there?



Distance XY is CRITICAL!!! THAT is the spring loaded part of the system that takes up the slack created by the uneven arc of the baby stays!

As you go higher and higher with the mast this XY factor pus more and more downward pressure on the gin pole line and keeps the whole system tight so things don't go flopping all over the place. On 'boat' I did replace the short u-shackle with a longer quick-release BUT THEN I HAD TO SHORTEN THE XY DISTANCE BY RE-TYING THE BOWLINE! You need to keep that factory XY distance the same or the system will not work as well. Also, I noticed I got less "spring tension" when I did add the shackle and reduce the bowline to accommodate. That's because the length of the bowline effects the amount of "spring" that will be in the system. Mine does not work as well and is a little too tight when fully upright because my bowline is a little too short. The longer bowline works better, but I found the shackle to be a hassle to me, but the system is more stable and goes up tighter with the short shackle and the long bowline.

I just got Rid of the Furler

I trailer exclusively at this point and it was just to much of a pain. I put it up in the extra room over the addition we built for the in-laws which is climate controlled and one day or for a trip where I intend for the mast to be up a week or more I will put it back on.

I just replaced it with an extra fore-stay I had that fit and use a spare jib i have for now. Unfortunately the local lake 10 min from us is absolute sh~t for sailing...so 99% of the time I don't get to sail as much as I like to.. So for now quick launching is priority. I can be in the water in about 10 min now including mast raising